Learned Dissertations on Ala Alba
by GrandHaberdasher
Summary: Far in the future, long after Negi Springfield and all his companions are dust, archaeologists have discovered the tales of their adventures. The only thing scholars can agree on is the stories cannot be literal truth. Here are their essays.
1. Wings of Progress

**_Wings of Progress_**

_How the Ala Alba pantheon represents a shift from savagery to civilization_

Many pixels have flickered over the legends of Ala Rubra and Ala Alba. Recently, the so-called "Hero Theory" (the idea that those fantastic pantheons were composed genuine historical figures that accomplished some or all of the feats attributed to them) has been in vogue. This essay will serve to debunk that hypothesis by showing that whatever crumbs of historical fact may be buried within the narrative, they are entirely overwhelmed by the allegory of the Akamatsu culture's transition from an age of warlike tribalism to one of diplomacy and scholarship.

The most obvious symbolism of this transition is the difference in name between the old pantheon and the new. The red of the old pantheon is a clear allusion to blood, which would be associated with the warfare and other brutality that spilled it. The white of the newer pantheon symbolizes purification; while Nagi's wings are bathed in the blood of those he slew, Negi's wings are washed clean of them. Now that the old, barbaric ways have been abandoned, a new way must be found. Here we come to one of the most singular traits of the Ala Alba: the assigning of each deity to a numbered "seat," from one to four hundred and ninety-six. Scholars debate endlessly the meaning of these numbers, but it is this researcher's firm conviction that the symbolism of any particular seat is dwarfed by the symbolism of the whole. The numbers connect the gods of the Alba pantheon to mathematics, and therefor to science and civilization as a whole.

At this point, the "Hero Theory" advocates will no doubt be clamoring that the above symbolism could have been a deliberate choice by the historical Negi Springfield. This would not be entirely laughable if said symbolism were the only subject of this essay. However, the boy hero was hardly at liberty to select himself and his companions to serve as powerful or more a symbolic purpose as the group's name. Many of the Alba deities are near-duplicates of their Rubra forbearers. There are the hero-fools, Rakan and Kotaro, the trickster-healers, Albireo and Konoka, the dutiful swordmasters, Eishun and Setsuna, the warrior Princesses, Arika and Asuna, and of course the Springfields, so alike in name, appearance, and prowess yet so unlike in personality.

Of course, the Hero Theorists brush off the similarities between the Springfields as the effects of heredity, and between the others as mere coincidence. This paper will here show that it is far more likely that the members of the Rubra pantheon evolved into their Alba counterparts than that such remarkable correspondences were the result of simple chance. For instance, "Negi Springfield" is undoubtably a corruption of "Nagi Springfield," with the confusion exacerbated by "Negi" possessing a peaceful wisdom thought more appropriate to the chief deity of a maturing society than the simple-minded violence of "Nagi." The newfound youth of "Negi" does not signify that he is the literal son of "Nagi." Rather, his youth and that of his fellows indicates that the Akamatsu society during the Alba period considered itself to be a symbolic child, with its most glorious years stretching in front of it. This is obviously much more plausible than the frankly disturbing claims that a ten-year-old boy would have been fit to act as general for fifteen-year-olds, and to face deadly enemies and fearsome trials with them.

The changes of the lesser deities were more complex. When Rakan was made into Kotaro, the Akamatsu were enlightened enough to disdain brute violence for its own sake. Thus, Kotaro was made half dog-demon, to symbolize that the blood-thirst he represented must be leashed and tamed. They were not yet enlightened enough to eschew such blatantly racist symbolism. Eishun was similarly given animalistic attributes, and both he and Albireo were feminized. This change in gender was due to the sexist belief that women were more nurturing and compassionate than men. Again, the Akamatsu were more barbarous than they knew. More telling than that is the fact that the romantic link and partnership, or "ohteepee," between the two was exceptionally constant in the normally muddled legends of Ala Alba. Evidently, the ancients believed that the trickster would benefit from the swordswoman's sense of duty, and the swordswoman from the trickster's healing nature. The change from Arika's reserve to Asuna's passion would seem anomalous, but some leeway for enthusiasm can easily be made sensical in the light of Asuna's nature as protector and the aforementioned positive view of women.

The new additions to the pantheon are as telling as the transformations of the old. For instance, Kotaro was most commonly ohteepeed with Chizuru and Natsumi, who have the control of children and invisibility in their respective purviews. This clearly shows the view that the savagery of Kotaro must either be harnessed or vanish entirely. Similarly, the many and often contradictory ohteepees of Negi should not be seen to indicate something as preposterous as a ten-year-old philanderer, but rather a potent symbolic connection between the paragon god and such worthy attributes as studiousness (the famous double ohteepee of Nodoka and Yue), athleticism (Ku Fei), and service (Chachamaru).

Consider also Evangeline and Chao, representative respectively of the past and future. Evangeline is encountered first as a predator who must be subdued. Yet even when she is defeated, she is never entirely harmless. She was a powerful ally who was said to have taught secrets even to Negi, but she was also proud, cruel, voraciously carnal, and perfectly willing to keep the machine goddess Chachamaru in bondage. While Chao also appears initially as an antagonist, here the similarities end. Chao's goal is selfless where Evangeline's is selfish. Where Evangeline remains a presence in the pantheon in all the tales that follow her appearance, Chao vanishes whence she came after her plan fails. Thus, the Akamatsu believed that the past would remain with them and teach valuable lessons for all its savagery, and that the march of progress would lead to a distant future of understanding and sundry wonders, including those as implausible as combat-useful applications of temporal mechanics in a time as primitive as the twenty-second century.

For all their faults and prejudices, the Akamatsu showed commendable foresight about the improvements that time brings. May future generations judge us as lightly for our errors as we have reason to judge them for theirs.


	2. On the Historical Ala Alba

**_On the Historical Ala Alba_**

The tales of Ala Alba have long been held to be nothing more than fabrications too fantastical to be real. However, the has been a recent archaeological find of a school called "Mahora," complete with records of one Negi Springfield and one Fate Averruncus as teachers of a group whose names match most of Ala Alba! This does not mean that the historical group accomplished everything that the legendary one did. Rather, the legends we know today were built around the skeleton of truth that we historians must uncover.

For instance, the legends state that Springfield was the teacher of most of Ala Alba at a time when he was ten years old and they were fifteen. Most scholars, and indeed the general public, dispute the likelihood of one so young earning a degree in education, in addition to acquiring skills in martial arts and magic. However, if one accepts that Neg Springfield is merely an alternative spelling of Nagi Springfield, known for early accomplishments, youthful features, and an enthusiastic demeanor, it becomes clear that Negi/Nagi was not literally a child, but merely very young-seeming for a teacher. That fact that Springfield, willing as he was to teach students such as the coulromorph Rainyday and the gynoid Karakuri, doubtless taught some who were chronologically older than him would have made "child teacher" jokes even more likely, until today we accept them as fact!

Adding credence to this hypothesis is the fact that the girls he taught were evidently not the same age as each other at all! A "class roster" unearthed in Mahora shows that at a time when many of the core members of Ala Alba were roughly fifteen, Naba, Tatsumiya, and Nagase were closer to twenty, and the Narutaki twins closer to ten! Now, one may with justice ask why students of so widely varying ages would have taken a class together. One may likewise ask a school in a time of segregation would have accepted so many non-human students. However, it is likely that Springfield started out not as the teacher of a full class, but rather as the personal tutor for his in-law Asuna Entheofuchsia and his family friend Konoka Konoe, both of whom served as his roommates. From there, he selected likely young women for training without regard for race or age. The fact that he excluded young men from his informal "class" is more likely due to a feminist attempt to counteract the gender disparity that led to Ala Rubra being almost entirely male, rather than anything more prurient. Queen Arika would surely never have stood for such a thing!

Now, if Springfield's students were strictly female, what of Inugami and Averruncus? It is most likely that they, as well as McDowell were auxiliary teachers, who helped with matters to which Springfield's vaunted prowess did not extend. The "child teacher" meme evidently spread to them as well, aided by McDowell's ability to appear in a childish form. To believe otherwise would be to accept a hardened mercenary and warrior construct who could not go on solo missions without being asked the location of their guardians! Inugami was known to practice the ninjutsu for which Nagase and the Narutakis would later be known for, and his frequent companion Murakami certainly showed prodigious abilities for stealth as well! Reformed radical Averruncus probably taught the matters of politics and entrepreneurship that Yukihiro and Yotsuba would excel at, while the Doll Master McDowell instructed luminaries such as Hakase and Hasegawa in the technological arts. Oddly, McDowell allowed herself to be grouped with the students in the "class roster," perhaps as a show of feminine solidarity.

Only Chao's impossible claims of time travel with military applications being developed in the twenty-second century remain as a hurdle to our comprehension of the historical Ala Alba. Fortunately, some judicious thought will make the truth behind her legend clear as well. Firstly, note her claim to be the direct descendent of Springfield. Since he can hardly be her literal ancestor, this must signify that she was his most prized pupil. Certainly, her fabled abilities in not just the magic and martial arts Springfield could personally teach, but the skills imparted by Averruncus and McDowel as well would make any educator proud. Of course, this raises the question of why she did not show similar aptitude for the lessons of Inugami. But is not ninjutsu the art of deception? What better way to demonstrate mastery of such an art than to convince the world that the techniques one uses in it are derived from something as outlandish as time travel? Why, to do that and then further convince the world that you adhere to the strict truth at all times, of course! Truly, Chao is worthy of her acclaim.

The records of early days that reach our ears are often badly warped by word of mouth and the passing of time. We must not let this dissuade us, but instead let it encourage us to redouble our efforts to find the gems of truth in the morass of confusion.


	3. Ala Alba as Personified NationStates

**_Ala Alba as Personified Nation-States_**

It was a common practice among ancient cultures to represent their nations as individuals. Famous examples include Usamerica's Uncle Sam and Australia's Steve Irwin. It is likely that the legendary Negi Springfield was one such representation. His Ala Alba would then have been other nations conquered or allied with by the Negi state.

Negi's relations with Ala Alba are sharply divided along gender lines. The males, Kotaro and Fate, are first described as enemies. Following a series of violent interactions in which Negi is victorious, they become friends. In the early stages, the non-Negi party is loath to admit this friendship. One person defeating another in earnest combat is unlikely to make the latter well-disposed to the former. However, a conquered nation may eventually grow to identify itself as a part of the conquering state. Apparently this integration occurred more swiftly with the Kotaro nation than the Fate.

The female members of Ala Alba fall into two groups: those with pactios, and those without. The pactio obviously represents a formal alliance. Both the kiss and the ermine-and-circle imagery make it clear this alliance took the form of a marriage between members of the ruling class of each nation. Assertions that the Alban legends suggest an acceptance of polygamy are without any great merit. A close reading of the tales shows the characters condemning any such custom. Monogamous relationships between various aristocrats of the Negi state and its allies are more likely. The mechanics of the pactio system demonstrate the advantages each nation gained from the alliance. The ministra state received protection from the influential and powerful Negi state, which gained access to the ministra state's unique skills. In some cases, the benefit is clear, such as when the Nodoka state's spies provided valuable intelligence that led to a critical victory against the Kotaro state. In other cases, as with the Chisame state, the advantage is more opaque.

The members of Ala Alba without pactios were friendly, but non-allied nations. The reasons the normally expansionist Negi state left them alone vary. Some provided useful services in exchange for independence, such as Mana's mercenaries and Hakase's machines. Others were too alien to assimilate, such as the staunchly religious Misora or the enigmatic Zazie. Still others were simply too much trouble to conquer, such as Eva and Satsuki states.

The bizarre alchemy of human storytelling is remarkable. The wars, politicking, and greed of nations have been transformed into a collection of adventure stories for and about children. What would those ancient Akamatsu have thought if they had known how sanitized the events that ruled their lives and caused their deaths would become?


	4. The Sayo Communication System

Credit for this one goes to the worthy personage I know only as Calm And Insane.

* * *

><p><strong><em>The Sayo Communication System<em>**

By Cainn Males

It is commonly accepted that Sayo Aisaka was a ghost member of Ala Alba. However the more we learn the harder it is to accept this as fact. For one thing we have never found any physical evidence of her existence anytime after the year 1940. He status as a ghost has, up until now, allowed us to accept this with few questions. However by taking a close look at the facts it is possible to conclude that Sayo Aisaka was not a ghost, but a communications network.

First, the legions about how Aisaka single-handedly found and directed a recue party towards the lost members of Ala Alba when they were scattered across the magical world is difficult to believe. How can one person, even with unlimited energy, the ability to fly, and never having to sleep, accomplish this in under a month? Only if they were extremely lucky would such an event be possible. Instead it is much more likely that Ala Alba was using a complex planet wide communication system, the likes of which we currently have today. This was likely a primitive system that combined magic and technology, much like Chachamaru. This would explain the short time it took to locate and direct the rescue party towards the lost members, and why it took so long. As a primitive system it must have had to been calibrated for the world it was used on manually. Considering this was the first system of its kind, the fact that the calibration was done in under a month is amazing, but much easier to believe than a ghost searching the entire world.

Additionally, ghosts are rare occurrences, and achieving communication with a ghost without specialized magic was virtually unheard of back in the twenty-first century. That a mundane (the old term for a person that was not aware of the existence of magic) is rumored to have discovered Aisaka makes this simply impossible to believe. Also, Sayo kept giving people information about what was happening and finding things about other places. This is the exact function of communication systems.

Sadly these amazing pieces of magical technology were destroyed, most likely during the Descendants Wars, and were lost to time. Eventually their existence were uncovered, and without having the full story, we classified them as ghosts. Now we have the full knowledge of the true events though, and know that they were unusually advanced masterpieces, something not uncommon to find when a Springfield is involved. Hopefully we may one day find the remains of one of these systems and learn how Ala Alba communicated on a global scale.


	5. The UQ Cult

Guest written by Shadow Crystal Mage

* * *

><p><strong>The Cult of UQ<strong>

Recently there has arisen a movement that has caused massive unrest among the ranks of the faithful. Some have hailed it the second coming, while others warn it is the predecessor or even cause of the Great Disaster of which the goddess Chao Lingshen had long foretold.

Though they style themselves the Holders of UQ, the Immortal Sages, to many they are known simply as the UQ cult, and already many unsavory rumors surround them, such as their involvement in landsharking and their accused desecration of several holy sites and relics of the faithful. Others see this as only right and proper, for since, it is argued, they are the successors and indeed, reincarnation of the gods of Ala Alba, then it is most fitting they reclaim all that was theirs.

Regarding these blasphemies, their detractors claim their heresy is twofold. They are lead by a woman who claims to all that she is the Daughter of the Night, Child of Deepest Darkness, the Apostle of Destruction in the Guise of a Child. While there are those who are quick to believe in the not-unreasonable supposition that it is better to fall to your knees in abject terror than to be oh so dead wrong, braver scholars rebuke that this woman is a clear imposter (badly) masquerading as the Eternal Little Mother of Suffering.

Of all the pantheon, they claimed, scripture clearly depicts The Evangeline as the one with least interest in moral affairs, citing it as beneath her notice. Indeed, some of the earliest writings concerned nigh epic quests to gain her attention, never mind her favor. While the cult's supporters and archivists argue that she could have changed in that time, scholars of the old writings retort that, as one of the four immortal goddesses on undeath (the other three are the goddess Sayo, of the immortality of the soul; the goddess Chachamaru, the immortality of the machine; and Asuna, the Twilight One, of the immortal slumber) and indeed, of the four goddesses, she is the most unchanging.

It is argued back, however, that the great god Negi did in fact cause them to change, and that as his successor the being who calls himself Touta would be equally capable, at which point the scholars say something rude about the archivists preferences and they get thrown out of the bar.

This argument is, in fact, part of the core canon of the UQ cult. While the blonde of debatable Evangelinity is claimed to be their leader, in truth the cult revolves around the Touta, whom some erroneously call _the_ UQ Holder, who claims descent from Negi Springfiled by way of Konoe Konoka. This has, understandably, made them extremely unwelcome in lands held by those of the Konoka faithful, and their staunch allies and sisters the Setsunanites have taken it even further, declaring the cult a blasphemy of the highest order and having members killed on sight, an extreme reaction given the faith's tightly reined and indeed pacifistic standards. This is to be expected, however, as the claims of the UQ cult blaspheme heavily upon the core beliefs of the faiths in question.

_- As scribed by the humble magus Senou Kaede, acolyte and Hand of Chachamaru_


	6. The Role of the Touta Story

p align="LEFT"It is no great revelation to note that of the Immortal Sages, the enlightened hero-gods venerated by the faith known as the Holders of UQ, the one named Touta is the most commonly featured in legend and myth. The reasons for this are considerably more opaque. Others among the Eternal Twelve would seem by objective examination to be more worthy of a central role in one of the adventure stories that make up the bulk of the Eternity Holder mythography. Karin better fits the archetype of the noble warrior, whose stout-hearted resolution in the face of pain inspires the less able listener. Kirie's chronal abilities permit a unique ability to gather intelligence and develop wisdom needed for the resolution of whatever crisis may threaten. Both Yukihime and Jinbei are leaders of the pantheon, and have greater syncretic links to the Holders' sister faith to boot. Yet it is the lowly buffoon Touta who outmatches them all. To understand why this is so, we must examine his evolution from his original form to the very different role he takes today./p  
>p align="LEFT"Touta's genesis most certainly began as a tool of social control. His fellow Sages were linked with certain vocations, and the most important virtues of those who shared said vocations. Kirie was the Eternal Merchant, blessed with the foresight of disaster, Ikkuu the Eternal Crafter who became the tools he worked with, and so forth. Humble Touta was the Eternal Laborer, and where Sages of a higher station were accorded majesty, wisdom, and power, his lot was the virtue of serene joy. The masses were encouraged to emulate his cheerful acceptance of a meager lot at the base of the hierarchy, rather than indulge in revolutionary anger.p  
>p align="LEFT"While the elite classes may hold most forms of power, it is the unnumbered masses who hold sway over popularity. While propaganda has some effect, the zeitgeist is for the most part dictated not by the few and proud but by the many and meek. Given this, one might expect that Touta would be rejected by those who would naturally be averse to being symbolically depicted as a simpleton. Instead, he was embraced, and in this embracing turned entirely from his original purpose. While superficially seeming to retain his buffoonish nature, Touta was reimagined as a trickster-hero in the vein of Brer Bugs Bunny.p  
>p align="LEFT"It is revealing to note the treatment of Touta's most common companion, Kuromaru the Eternal Slayer. Older stories treat Kuromaru as a grim figure, a wreaker of necessary evil. In Touta stories he is portrayed as a figure of fun, his grimness reduced to a comedy duo straight man's attempts at dignity. The traditionally respected figure is the subject of mockery and the traditionally mocked figure earns respect for resolving the crisis du jour. The other immortals who would nominally be placed above Touta are treated in similar, though less extreme, fashion. Touta stories subvert the very hierarchy he was meant to enforce, and from this arises their popularity.p 


End file.
